NASLite Network Attached Storage

As we all know, for basic network storage, NASLite is very cost effective giving almost unlimted basic storage for little more than the cost of the HDDs themselves. And many of us have eagerly awaited the arrival of v.2 with support for RAID in the xpectation that we could build a RAID server equally cost effectively.

But when I start to try and source the bits I'd need for a NASLite RAID server, I'm beginning to wonder if it makes sense. In the UK a compatible four port RAID controller card would appear to cost anywhere from £200-£300. With 250GB HDDs at around £45-50 each, the hardware for a four drive 1TB RAID system would cost about £450-500. But for the same sort of money I could buy the Buffalo TeraStation which offers all that NASLite does, and more, e.g. user shares, access restrictions, UPS shutdown, ability to install media servers, etc.

So is there any compelling justification for building a NASLite RAID server rather than buying a ready made one with more features? Methinks I'll just build myself a new basic NAS box for the price of a new 250GB drive and save up for a TeraStation!

Performance.

The Raid in the Terastation is software based. the processor has to handle the RAID function as well as all of the other NAS related functions. The processors are generaly rather meager for the taks as well as the RAM included. NASLite on the other hand will burry it performance wise if you set it up with good hardware that can be had here in the USA for little more than 100 British pounds. We are talking a machine with a GB of RAM and a 2GHz processor.

My money is on the NASLite box.

Mike

Thanks again, Mike,

But I guess my question then is............performance to do what?

If all I need is home network storage for back up, media files, etc., and I'm not transferring gigabytes of data between workstations on a regular basis, I really don't need a 2GHz NAS machine. If a basic NASLite box based on an old PC suffices for my performance needs, then the cost of going NASLite RAID is prohibitive compared to the commercially available alternatives. I guess it's horses for courses, but for £400 or £500 a TeraStation offers far more features than the NASLite RAID equivalent with a performance that is probably at least equivalent to my basic Pentium 90 based NASLite box.

That's not to say that NASLite isn't an excellent system, and I'll for sure be upgrading my current box to V. 2 (which I bought earlier this week) and a much larger HDD. But I've concluded that the cost of going NASLite RAID far outweighs the benefits when compared to the commercial alteratives.

Using http://www.exchangerate.com, £100 translates to roughly $200, I don't see you getting your base system, a terrabyte of storage, and a RAID card for that - in fact - the last time I bought disks, a pair of 250 GB disks set me back $203.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking NASlite, but sjdigital presents a valid arguement - the additional hardware for a four drive 1 TB RAID system, will set him back £200 plus the cost of a RAID controller at an estimated £200-£300 for a total of £400-£500 over the cost of the base system, putting it on par with full featured commercial product.

It is for this reason that I have been suggesting the addition of certain features - for example - the ability to integrate into a Windows domain would open a new market segment to NASLite, small offices have just as much need for security as corporate, especially it it's a branch office - I'd also like to see RAID management tools and UPS support - if necessary, create a two tier product structure NASLite Home & NASLite Pro (and for those who want media servers NASLite Media Center Edition - OK - just kidding )

Your justification is performance, and I agree with you - a NASLite box with a similar cost will outperform many commercial NAS appliances - the enduser now has to decide whether he is willing to trade perfomance for security at a particular price point

I will add two more justifications - the first is commodity hardware - many of those NAS appliances use custom hardware and consideration needs to be given to repair/replacement in case of failure - if your NASLite box fails, it will be easier to locate affordable replacement parts. The second is expandability - most NAS appliances are limited in this regard, however with NASLite, you can add a second (or third) disk controller and add more disk (in an external enclosure if necessary).

A NASLite RAID box may well offer better performance in terms of absolute data transfer and scaleability, but that's about it. It is outperformed in terms of features, convenience and value for money by commercial offerings. I do wonder if it isn't a bit of a blind alley, development wise, as the benefits can really only be achieved by considerable investment in hardware, which is a long way from its origins as an extremely cost effective way of building a simple NAS box

are we not we just argueing here that RAID cards are expensive?

You cant compare software RAID solutions to hardware RAID solutions as they are just not the same thing

I wasn't trying to create an argument It was more a case of commenting on the fact that while the idea of a NASLite RAID box seemed very appealing, once you do the sums, it doesn't really seem to be very cost effective for what you get, regardless of whether it's hardware or software RAID. And while technically the two may not be the same thing, the end result for most non-enterprise users is indistinguishable I would say. And in any event, is a dedicated RAID NAS box like the TeraStation not also in effect a hardware RAID solution??

no i dont agree.

NASLite is cheap.
It runs on cheap /old hardware (cheaper than you could get in any commercial solution)

The only thing thats expensive is a RAID card which is a component so that will be expensive in any other solution as well.

If you want software RAID then Naslite isnt for you. I used to think software RAID was a brilliant idea... and it is when it works.

But i guarantee you if you go that route one day you will remember this post and regret no pondering that there IS a difference.... with you 1TB of nice data unrecoverable on a fraked software RAID box.

What does RAID really mean to you... cause if it is reliability just spend 30 mins googling for people desperate to try and fix software RAID and failing.

Well if the two of you consider $100 for an LSI hardware RAID card that supports 8 PATA drives expensive thenI guess your riight. All I can say is that on Ebay you can get the hardware for the basic box for cheap. I did not include the HDD cost in my original post though.

As far as features I fall into the class of "just give me fast reliable file storage and transfer." I just do a copy of data from one drive to another of critical data every so often. RAID1 or RAID5 are not that important to me right now.

Mike

your right id forgotten not everyone needs a SATA card... however if you do go to SATA then its a considerably more expensive proposition.

Also you have to consider this is relying on eBay or the like and location in the world (USA gets 20+ RAID cards to every one offered here in the UK) so demand is high (yes i know you can order internationally but im not excited about sending $500 half way round the world for a second hand piece of kit.

Weahould also take into account being to replace the CARD. Even with a $100 LSI card if it takes 3 weeks to find another one then thats a problem.

In eseence you pay for what you get and NASLite is THE cheapest NAS money can buy and if you dont get fooled by lots of pointless features of other products its alos the best.

Mike,

If I could find a NSALite compatible RAID card for $100 on eBay, then that might be different! But I haven't had any success in doing so. The cheapest compatible card I can find anywhere is the 3ware 8000 series that retails in the UK for aound £80, say $150, and it only has 2 ports.

But in any event, your needs seem to be for fast storage, not for RAID redundancy, so you can just add SATA disks as necessary. And if you need the extra speed that RAID 0 might provide, then NASLite and an appropriate controller card would probably make sense. But my original point was simply that when one looks at the additional features available in the dedicated RAID NAS box market (and I don't think that they can be dismissed as simply software RAID since they are dedicated RAID devices), then the logic of building a NASLite RAID server is less than compelling.

But an interesting debate nonetheless, although if this is the best we have to amuse ourselves with on a Saturday night, we should get out a bit more!

Just a quick question sjdigital, if you were to build a raid system using naslite, how many drives/size would you want to use?

Well the 'sweet spot' pricewise for HDDs seems to be 250GB, so my original intention had been to go for a 1TB RAID 5 and as I said, the cost would be of the order of £400-500, say $750-$900. That's mighty dear for something that is only a very basic RAID server - no shares, access restrictions, UPS shutdown, etc., etc. For value for money, a basic NASLite box could give me the same 750GB for the price of three HDDs, say £150/$300.

I agree with fat,

sjdigital maybe you should ask the Buffalo guys how much they would charge you for hardware raid in one of their systems.

You can't really compare a software raid solution to a hardware based one. why do you think they come up with software raid? reduced costs at a cost.

Going by what I have read about the Buffalo TeraStation I rather trust my 2 year old handing my 300gb hd.

We all definitely should get out more! Ten o'clock on a Saturday night and we're debating the merits of hardware vs. software RAID!!!!!

But let's not take this too seriously. For most (many?) of us, we're not looking for the best possible solution - just for something that does what we want, and at reasonable cost. I started out with the idea that a RAID server at home would be a better bet than just having a plain vanilla NAS box. You know, redundancy and all that! So I thought that the new NASLite would be just the thing I needed. And my point was simply that, on a value for money basis, for a home server the hardware requirements of the NASLite option made it very expensive compared to the consumer level (there, I've said it!) options on the market today. I'm quite sure that, say, a TeraStation is ultimately potentially less reliable than a dedicated system built with a top notch hardware RAID controller but in ordinary use is this an unacceptable risk? For me, the answer is probably not, particularly when I look at the additional features that the TeraStation offers - YMMV!

But I do think that, as in so many areas of technology, there is a tendency to seek technical perfection, regardless of the real world benefits. It's a bit like the forums for digital cameras - the talk is mainly about faster memory cards, more megapixels, etc., and very rarely about how to take good pictures.